The Story
A brilliant and utterly engaging novelEmma set in modern Asiaabout a young womans rise in the glitzy, moneyed city of Singapore, where old traditions clash with heady modern materialism.On the edge of twentyseven, Jazzy hatches a plan for her and her best girlfriends: Sher, Imo, and Fann. Before the year is out, these Sarong Party Girls will all have spectacular weddings to rich ang mohWestern expathusbands, with Chanel babies (the cutest status symbols of all) quickly to follow. Razorsharp, spunky, and vulgarly brandobsessed, Jazzy is a determined woman who doesnt lose.As she fervently pursues her quest to find a white husband, this bombastic yet tenderly vulnerable golddigger reveals the contentious gender politics and class tensions thrumming beneath the shiny exterior of Singapores glamorous nightclubs and busy streets, its grubby wet markets and seedy hawker centers. Moving through her colorful, stratified world, she realizes she cannot ignore the troubling incongruity of new money and oldworld attitudes which threaten to crush her dreams. Desperate to move up in Asias financial and international capital, will Jazzy and her friends succeed?Vividly told in Singlishcolorful Singaporean English with its distinctive cadence and slangSarong Party Girls brilliantly captures the unique voice of this young, striving woman caught between worlds. With remarkable vibrancy and empathy, Cheryl Tan brings not only Jazzy, but her city of Singapore, to dazzling, dizzying life.
Description
A brilliant and utterly engaging novelEmma set in modern Asiaabout a young womans rise in the glitzy, moneyed city of Singapore, where old traditions clash with heady modern materialism.On the edge of twentyseven, Jazzy hatches a plan for her and her best girlfriends: Sher, Imo, and Fann. Before the year is out, these Sarong Party Girls will all have spectacular weddings to rich ang mohWestern expathusbands, with Chanel babies (the cutest status symbols of all) quickly to follow. Razorsharp, spunky, and vulgarly brandobsessed, Jazzy is a determined woman who doesnt lose.As she fervently pursues her quest to find a white husband, this bombastic yet tenderly vulnerable golddigger reveals the contentious gender politics and class tensions thrumming beneath the shiny exterior of Singapores glamorous nightclubs and busy streets, its grubby wet markets and seedy hawker centers. Moving through her colorful, stratified world, she realizes she cannot ignore the troubling incongruity of new money and oldworld attitudes which threaten to crush her dreams. Desperate to move up in Asias financial and international capital, will Jazzy and her friends succeed?Vividly told in Singlishcolorful Singaporean English with its distinctive cadence and slangSarong Party Girls brilliantly captures the unique voice of this young, striving woman caught between worlds. With remarkable vibrancy and empathy, Cheryl Tan brings not only Jazzy, but her city of Singapore, to dazzling, dizzying life.
